Name: The Plan 167
Brand: The Plan
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By Editorial Staff - 15 December 2025

In its adaptive reuse of this iconic Qatari building, David Chipperfield Architects has transformed the former Doha Ministry of the Interior into a boutique hotel, preserving a structure that stands witness to the city’s history.

Designed in the 1970s by Lebanese architect William Sednaoui, the building is a model example of Brutalism in the Middle East and of the capital’s early urban development. The architects have reinterpreted its sculptural geometries and rhythmic façade through a contemporary lens to meet the needs of the building’s new role as a hospitality facility.

While adding a new level and constructing a 260-m plinth with a lush garden, art installations, and basins, the project has retained the building’s original character. Designed by Soho House Design and spread over three levels, the hotel’s 90 rooms and suites reflect 1970s glamour. A canopy of slender concrete ribs shades a series of pavilions that house service and event facilities, while the atrium and the now covered inner courtyard form the core of the building. On the first floor, the bar overlooks the restaurants on the elevated ground floor, while the new rooftop accommodates a spa and wellness center, a fitness room, and a club lounge. Located near the Amiri Diwan and the Grand Mosque on the Corniche – Doha’s celebrated pedestrian waterfront – the hotel features panoramic views over the city and the Persian Gulf.

The project creates an ongoing dialogue with the past, with its roof slats recalling the façade’s pilaster strips, the new podium emphasizing the structure’s horizontal esthetic, and the careful integration of additions to the existing building, characterized by high quality materials: white Calacatta and green Tinos marble as well as travertine reminescent of the existing façade. This adaptive reuse project has therefore enhanced existing heritage while reinforcing the...